Is Haaland the ‘last piece in the jigsaw puzzle’ for City’s UCL hopes?
The Dutchman, 37, played on a variety of teams during his career, but never managed to play for his country.
“Of course I’m excited by the possibility of winning this trophy,” he said when asked whether he was excited by the prospect of winning the Champions League.
“I always like to play football with big teams and I still love the game. My dream one year ago was to play for Holland in the World Cup and now it’s almost like coming home. I feel like this is the last piece in the jigsaw puzzle of the City squad.
“The feeling for the City squad is very different to when I first joined, it’s even better because you’re part of something special. People know me now and I hope this feeling continues into the future.”
Haaland has been out of form of late and has only managed to convert in two of his last seven appearances.
He missed the latter stages of the EFL Cup final with a thigh injury and is currently sidelined with an ankle problem.
“We haven’t been looking at Haaland too much, because he has a bad run of form. He has been training with a different group. We expect him to be back soon though,” said City manager Manuel Pellegrini.
The former Barcelona, Sevilla and Ajax star has spent much of his career plying his trade in France and Spain’s La Liga.
He played for Paris Saint-Germain between 2008 and 2011 under Pellegrini before moving to the Eredivisie side ADO Den Haag, where he made more than 280 league appearances.
After a brief loan stint at Ajax, Haaland eventually made the switch back to France, playing for two seasons at the Etihad.
He spent the next eight seasons in the lower leagues of France before returning to the Premier League with West Ham.
Haaland was also capped 43 times for the Netherlands between 2001 and 2010, scoring four goals during his international career.
The last piece in the jigsaw: Pellegrini
Pellegrini’s Barcelona, which won all three domestic competitions in the 2011-12 season, reached the Champions League final last year, losing out to Chelsea.
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